News from the Library of Congress

August 7, 2000

The Caroline and Erwin Swann Foundation for
Caricature and Cartoon, administered by the
Library of Congress, announces the selection of
Chloe S. Carroll-Burke, a Ph.D. candidate in
history from the University of Michigan, to
receive its 2000-2001 Swann Foundation
Fellowship. Ms. Carroll-Burke's dissertation, Germs, Genes and Dissent: Images of Radicalism
and Disease in the Construction of American
National Identity, 1886-1927, explores images of
illness and health in the United States between
the 1880s and the 1920s, focusing on political
cartoons and motion pictures. She examines the
role they played in the movement to restrict
immigration, limit political dissent, and
improve public health.

Under the terms of the fellowship, Ms.
Carroll-Burke is required to make use of the Library's
collections, be in residence for at least two
weeks during the award period and deliver a
public lecture on her work-in-progress at that
time.

The overall quality of submissions so impressed
the Swann Foundation Board's Fellowship
Committee that they decided to award an
additional stipend to Amelia Rauser, an
assistant professor at Skidmore College, to
complete her monograph, Liberty and Identity in
British Political Prints, 1763-1793.

The Caroline and Erwin Swann Foundation for
Caricature and Cartoon is now accepting
applications for its graduate fellowship for the
2001-2002 academic year. The Swann Foundation
awards one fellowship annually (with a stipend
of $15,000) to assist ongoing scholarly research
and writing projects in the field of caricature
and cartoon. Completed applications are due
February 15, 2001, and notification will occur
in spring 2001. The fellowship covers the
2001-2002 academic year.

To be eligible, one must be a candidate for an
M.A. or Ph.D. degree in a university in the
United States, Canada or Mexico and working
toward the completion of a dissertation or
thesis for that degree, or be engaged in
postgraduate research within three years of
receiving an M.A. or Ph.D. from an institution
in one of those countries.

Although research must be in the field of
caricature and cartoon, there is no limitation
regarding the place or time period covered.
Since the Foundation encourages research in a
variety of academic disciplines, there is no
restriction upon the university department in
which this work is being done, provided the
subject pertains to caricature or cartoon art.

In the interest of increasing awareness and
extending documentation of Library of Congress
collections, fellows are required to make use of
the Library's collections, be in residence for
at least two weeks during the award period and
deliver a public lecture on his or her work-in-
progress at that time. Finally, recipients must
provide a copy of their dissertation, thesis, or
postgraduate publication, upon its completion,
for the Swann Foundation Fellowship files.

New York advertising executive Erwin Swann
(1906-1973) established the Swann Foundation for
Caricature and Cartoon in 1967. An avid
collector, Swann assembled a large group of
original drawings by 400 artists, spanning two
centuries, which his estate bequeathed to the
Library of Congress in two installments in 1974
and 1977. Mr. Swann's original purpose was to
compile a collection of original drawings by
significant humorous and satiric artists, and to
encourage the study of original cartoon and
caricature drawings as works of art. The stress
on original works serves two purposes: to
preserve work that is too often lost or casually
destroyed and to afford the opportunity to judge
draftsmanship, subtlety of line and wash in the
artist's original work instead of the
reproduction which, while retaining its message,
loses graphic quality.

The Foundation's support of research and
academic publication is carried out in part
through a program of fellowships. Applicants are
invited to write to the Foundation, with a
statement of qualifications, needs and a budget.
These grants are intended to assist ongoing
research and writing projects in the specific
areas of interest to the Foundation. The
Caroline and Erwin Swann Foundation for
Caricature and Cartoon, now administered by the
Library of Congress, is overseen by an advisory
board composed of scholars, collectors,
cartoonists, and Library of Congress staff
members. Its activities support the study,
interpretation, preservation and appreciation of
original works of humorous and satiric art by
graphic artists from around the world.